Accurate Planer

You cats seen/ used these?

Serious bling

http://accuratewaterman.com/

 

 

yup. they look badass. Powerful; I did hear the motor is Asian, the rest is American–aluminum casing. Haven’t used or bought one, $1,300 is a touch rico for me.

I reworked a 7.5 amp Skil instead:

 

 

 





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I love my Accurate, I have the JN2 short base, very powerful, more so then my Skil 7.5.

Tom Mahady

I got the long base and I love it, too. But man is it noisy…! You’d better wear ear protections…

I got a chance to try a demo model for a few boards.  I gave it back as soon as I could.  Too expensive and way too nice.  It is a piece of industrial art.

I have 2 Skil 7.5 planers and not knowing the exact details, the Accurate’s rpms seemed much higher than the Skil’s.  Tool felt well balanced, less foam tearing, but the thing screams.  Extemely loud.  Definately not for a backyarder trying to be low key or to used without some serious ear protection.  

 

I want one… badly!!!

The Accurate spins at around 1800+ rpm (they don’t specify it) @ 7.5 amps,  Skil is 1600 @ 5.5 / 7.5 amps,  Hitachi is 1500 @ 3.4 amps,  Bosch 1594 is 1650 @ 6.5 amps.   How loud a tool is depends on the motor, the housing material and the frequency of the motor noise (it’s proportionate to rpm).    On planers, there’s a separate noise from the cutter head and belt besides the motor.  If you take the belt off any planer it’s pretty quiet.   Any tool with a drive linkage is much louder than a direct or gear drive one.  Modern planer designs don’t use toothed belts or sprockets (they’re friction drives) and are much more quieter. 

"On planers, there’s a separate noise from the cutter head and belt
besides the motor.  If you take the belt off any planer it’s pretty
quiet. "

Yes, Pete, and blades are much louder than grit barrels. I’ve got two Skils, one with the standard cutter and one with a grit barrel and the second is much more user-friendly… except for stringers, that is…

Balsa, the secret with grit barrels is that they CANNOT cut below the height of the grit or studs.  So if the grit/studs are 1/16" high,  limit the max depth to maybe half of that.  What happens is that stringer wood gets mashed between the bottom of the cutter and the top of the studs.  This is pretty much the same design they use for shredding cardboard and such for recycling. 

Tom do you put yellow and black strips on that Board that says watch your step? If not OHSA will be in touch. 

 

HAHAHA yeah Doug i did and I put hand rails

Nice touch The hand rails Buffed Stainless steel or polished? 

I slightly modified your post, above, to reflect my sentiment about the Skil 100.    I first saw, and used one, in1958.     I rented them for years, and finally purchased a new one in 1964.     I still have, and use it.     The ONLY thing I’ve had to deal with is, replacing several worn out cords, several sets of brushes, probably 5 or 6 worn/failed triggers, and periodic sharpening of dulled blades, and replacing worn belts.    The motor is original, and still going strong.     That tool is 49 years old, with no less than 8,500, and no more than 10,000 boards to its credit.   I have both a long bed, and short bed version.     The original Skil is the long bed.     I picked up the other one in 2005.    As for Accurate, they are an awesome company.    I have several twin drag fishing reels, that they are well known for.   The Skil 100 is the devil I know, and am comfortable with.

Now bill, perish the thought but if you EVER decide it’s time to hang those up I would be honoured if I got first refusal…but then I guess there’d be a long list of others more worthy…
Cheers
Rich

Aloha Rich,

That day will come, in the next few years.  (perhaps)   When it does, You will be first in line. (If line there be!)    The short bed version, is a 7.5 amp, that I purchased out of Canada.     The actual short bed, was given to me through PeteC, by Terry Martin (may he RIP).    I first met Terry in 1963, and by 1965 was shaping in the racks next to him at HOBIE’S.   There’s a lot of  surfboard history attached to those two planers.     how about the Accurate Twin Drags, are  you interested in those too?  ( Hee, hee, hee.)

This is why we selected the Bosch 1594.  6.5 lbs, lots of ways it can be held and probably the quietest planer available.  Designed for a vacuum system.  Carbide blades are $15/set, no adjusting needed.  The production version will have black handles.

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Bill’s short base was originally Jeff (Midget) Smith’s Skil that produced many, many shortboards.  When Midget passed, it was willed to Terry Martin.   In the 70’s Midget was sweeping up at the Hobie factory and Terry took him aside after hours and started him shaping (maybe even on Bill’s old rack).  Terry only used long bases, so he asked me hold on to this planer for the right person.  So when Bill needed a short base, everything went full circle with that old Hobie crew.

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This is why we selected the Bosch 1594.  6.5 lbs, lots of ways it can be held and probably the quietest planer available.  Designed for a vacuum system.  Carbide blades are $15/set, no adjusting needed.  The production version will have black handles.

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Sick!  Sign me up.

I got an Accurate 2 years ago as a wedding present from my wife (thanks to Tom Mahady for giving her the suggestion on what was probably the best wedding gift ever).  Unfortunately, it had to go back due to some build issues.  The guys at at Accurate were pretty good to deal with, and I swore I would eventually buy another one.  I waited until about 6 months ago to re-order.  Those issues have been resolved, so here are my impressions.

 

About me:

Shaping about 7 years.  Wow has it been that long.  Nowadays I do between a board a week to a board every two weeks if I’m doing my own glassing.  It's a part time job and I am a registered business.  I shape mostly Marko EPS and I never shape longboards.  I started shaping with the Bosch.  Then I bought a Skil.  Then I got the Hitachi.  Of those three planers I am most comfortable using the Hitachi.  The ergonomics just work right for me.  I prefer the Skil motor over the Hitachi, but it’s too heavy and not as comfortable to me.  I much prefer the depth adjustment on the Hitachi vs the Skil.  If the Bosch could be modified like the Hitachi I would probably prefer that planer over all of them.  It cuts really well and the motor just feels solid.

 

I own the short bed JN2 Accurate planer. 

The good:  It’s built solid like a tank and feels like it will last the test of time.  It will probably still be cutting foam, when I'm long gone.  The motor is solid and strong.  It cuts like butter when set at full depth through EPS foam and if you don’t try to go super fast it will pull less beads than the slower motors (Hitachi, Bosch).  It’s easier to cut level and even with this than the plastic planers or even the Skil.  The weight distribution is designed really well for planing a surfboard and you don’t tend to dig to one side as easily as the other planers.  It’s a work horse that would be great for guys shaping a lot of big thick long boards.  If you shape SUPs and longboards, this is the planer for you (in the JN1 long bed version).  The largest boards I usually shape are 8ft and the Accurate is my tool of choice when I’m doing a fun shape or mini log.

 

The bad:  It’s heavy.  REALLY heavy.  Some people like that.  I don’t.  I prefer the weight of the Hitachi.  The weight can be your friend, but if you have good planer technique you don’t need it.  It’s loud.  REALLY loud.  It grinds on start up and then screams.  I need to wear ear plugs or my ears ring after I’m done shaping.  I can shape a whole board with the Hitachi with no noticeable fatigue to my ears or arms.  Can't say that for the Accurate.  The trigger is uncomfortable.  The metal finger loop hold thingy cuts into my hand.  The depth adjustment is uncomfortable.  It’s based on the Skil.  I much prefer the Hitachi swivel handle to the Skil/Accurate slider.  The Accurate slider head is bigger than the Skil and hurts my hand after shaping for a while.  Someone with bigger hands probably would not be bothered by this.  I have small hands.  The Accurate slider is designed to click as you slide to sort of let you feel how deep you are cutting.  I don’t find this useful as the planer vibrations from the strong motor, the bulky slider head, and the extremely subtle click don’t really allow me to feel anything.  I still opt for my Hitachi when shaping shortboards.

 

Conclusion:  The Accurate is a great planer, but just not for me and what I mostly shape.  I think that it really excels for bigger boards when you are cutting a lot of foam.  For the shortboard production shaper I think the light weight and ergonomics of the Hitachi make it the tool of choice and I’m still waiting for modified Bosch.  However, if you like the Skil for shortboards, you will LOVE the Accurate.  I never really loved the Skil either, but I do love my Hitachi.  Go figure.  If you like your Hitachi, chances are you will not like the Accurate.  If I were a production shortboard shaper I would opt for a small arsenal of Hitachi’s.  The light weight and ergonomics just seem to be more user friendly for repetitive use.  Longboard shapers will probably love the Accurate.  Production longboard shapers will probably cherish it.  And SUP shapers will probably want to buy 5 of them.

Would I buy it again?  Yes.  It’s a beautiful tool that will last more years than I will and it definitely has it’s uses.  But unfortunately it’s not my go-to planer.

Bill, hell yes, I’ll be needing the twin drags where I’m going…got a picture from my brother in law who had his first fishing trip out there a few weeks ago and he landed a 143lb tuna. My whimpy uk reels sure aren’t going to cut that mustard! And I’ll hold you to my position on the list…
Cheers
Rich